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And who built the 67 win team? He turned them into an 85 win team by buying everything, again going back the payroll thing. That 85 win season also came at the cost of giving Soriano 136 million dollars. So let's see. He built a horrible 67 win team, then was given a ton of cash to make it better, spent all that cash, then won an okay 85 wins in a horrible division, and we're supposed to congratulate him for that? Wow. Such low standards.

Umm, what? You're saying that having a higher payroll doesn't make it easier to build a team with more wins?

Not really. They have nice ERA's, but they've all been walk machines. Gaub has walked 19 in 30.1 IP. Stevens has walked 19 in 35.2 IP. Archer has walked 36 in 53.1 IP. Those are some really ugly totals. It's hard to get excited about that. DeRosa didn't get 30 million dollars.

never said it was

Give credit for him signing Derosa? Well, perhaps if he were: A: Still a Cub B: Wasn't traded for marginal prospects C: Not playing for the Cardinals DeRosa is not a good example. When DeRosa was signed he was considered a risk considering he really never played everyday for a full year. DeRosa went on to have a pretty decent season and then a career year for the Cubs and played a big role in both divison titles. They sold high on a 34 year old Middle Infielder, something you rarley can do. DeRosa OPS'd .857 last year. There was no way he was going to do that again. DeRosa also got helped out by leading the league in "lucky" home runs last year with 8. Look DeRosa is a good player, however he is not a superstar. He is below avg. defensivly basically everywhere you up put him. The biggest reason why the Cubs are struggling this year IMO is your bullpen and the loss of A-Ram. To blame this all on Hendry just seems like a scape goat. The fact is they have a bunch of players underachiving... Soriano, Bradley, Marmol, Harden, Gregg and Soto just to name a few. And then take out the Cubs best player (Aramis) and you end up being 2 games under .500. But lucky for the Cubs (and brewers) its the NL Central. You still have a really good starting rotation. And for how bad and under achving the cubs have been they are still only 3.5 games back. please explain to me what a lucky home run is, it sounds so moronic that maybe im just to smart to understand It's not really hard to figure out what it means. Bill James keeps a stat like that, but I'm not sure if that's the one he's talking about. Lucky home runs = wind aided home runs, home runs to small parts of parks, etc. A lot of DeRo's home runs last year were either wind helped or just barely got into the basket. That's what he's talking about. It's kind of pointless to talk about that though since he's hitting even more home runs this season.

We can't blame him for the Cubs not performing in the playoffs. That's not what he's saying. He's saying it's silly to congratulate Hendyr for winning the division in 07, when really it was only because the Cubs played in an awful division. Jim built a roster that beat the competition and won the division -- that's his job. No, he built an 85 win team. He got into the playoffs because the other teams sucked. If the Brewers win 87 games that year and win the division, did Hendry still do a good job? He won 85 games in a horrible division with a big payroll. Neat.

Remember when Hednry said in the offseason that Dempster was a key clubhouse guy and they had to re-sign him beause of that? Good times.

We can't blame him for the Cubs not performing in the playoffs. That's not what he's saying. He's saying it's silly to congratulate Hendyr for winning the division in 07, when really it was only because the Cubs played in an awful division.

It should only be expected from people who don't really know anything about stats. Comparing RBIs is useless in every situation. RBI's are a result of lineup position, lineup talent, luck, and rate stats. He was brought here to hit. Look at stats that show how he's done that. James Loney has a .732 OPS and has 49 RBIs.

Because it's hard to find many good things he's done

Once again, Hendry has little to do with the drafting since he's become the GM. And he didn't get just "marginal prospects" for DeRosa. Then what would you call Gaub, Archer, and Stevens? They are the very definition of marginal prospects.

good

Umm, many people questioned how well he would hit. Nobody thought he would be this bad, but there was def concern over how good he was, considering he's been like an .830 guy most of his career.

Not really. At least they got a major league reliever, and Perez is a pretty good prospect. We got 3 mediocre prospects who can't throw strikes. I'd take Perez..... plus they said the PTBNL is a significant factor in the deal.

Ugh. No, he didn't. "Sold high" implies that you got max value for the guy. Hendry oculdn't even get a major league reliever for DeRosa. He did not sell high. The Indians just got a better package for him than the Cubs got. I don't even know what to say to that. What good has he done? The only reason we won the division in 07 was because of the terrible division. The 08 team was the only one that was anything special, and he quickly erased that by having an awful, awful offseason after it. Hendry has been given a massive payroll every year, and we're congratulating him because he led us to the playoffs a couple times? Forget the fact that he has killed the organization with bad contracts. Look at the outfield. Soriano has 5 years left after this season in left. Bradley has 2+. Fukudome has 2+. And guess what? All 3 of them have horrible, unmovable contracts. But hey, Soriano helped up win the division a couple times, right! That makes it okay that he has a ridiculously awful contract that is going to hurt the team for another half decade still. We can't upgrade anywhere because most of the poisition are locked in with bad contracts that can't be moved, and we don't have money to spend anyways because he wasted it all on mediocre talent. I can't even begin to fathom the idea of saying that Hendry's good moves have outweighed his negative ones. Before this offseason you may have been able to make that argument. Now it's just ridiculous.

who cares, we'll still suck even if we make the type of move we're capable of (aka only a small one)

it's uzr

it's both. really it wouldn't matter howl ou uses it. the pitchers just arent good.

Because he'll probably turn into his crappy self again as soon as he's traded. That's usually what happens with crappy relievers who are having surpringly good seasons do when they get traded at midseason.

Really? Carpenter is far better than any pitcher on the Cubs Wainwright is as good as any pitcher on the Cubs Pineiro isn't as good, but is pitched as well as any pitcher on the Cubs Lohse is hurt, but he's a a solid 3rd, good 4th starter Wainwright would have the 4th best ERA on the Cubs. Carpenter would have the best ERA, but he's pitched a grand total of 65 innings. ow has Piniero pitched as well as any starter on the Cubs? Lshe is hurt? Go back to St. Louis. Carpenter's resume is solidified. Nobody on your staff is even close Wainwright over the last 3 seasons has been as good as any Cub starter, and this year he'd be second in VORP on the Cubs behind Lilly, who he is a much better pitcher than. Lilly is basically Kyle Lohse with a few more Ks, but more walks. I didn't say Pineiro was a good pitcher, but he's having a very good season. You worry about Ks, I worry about HRs and BBs. And he's given up 12 walks in 92 innings. That's great. And he's given up 2 home runs. It wont last, but that's not what I argued. Carp >>>>>>>> Zambrano Wainwright > Harden (Should he even count? He doesn't even pitch and when he does, he's awful). Lilly = Lohse Dempster > Pineiro, but that's not saying much Randy Wells? Marshall vs. Brad Thompson. Whatever, they all suck. Go to sleep. I like how you choose which time period you want to talk about depending on how it makes your player look. When you talk about harden, it's "he sucks this year", while you ignore his resume of how he always pitches when he's healthy. But then when you talk about Wainright, it's "the last few years" because really he hasn't been that good this season, despite the low ERA. Then with Lilly it's "Wainright is a much better pitcher than him".... again choosing to ignore this season and instead look at his recent track record.... because that's what helps your argument more.

Really? Carpenter is far better than any pitcher on the Cubs Wainwright is as good as any pitcher on the Cubs Pineiro isn't as good, but is pitched as well as any pitcher on the Cubs Lohse is hurt, but he's a a solid 3rd, good 4th starter Yeah look at Wainright's sparkling 1.34 WHIP. Game over man, game over. And saying Pineiro has pitched as well as any starter on the Cubs is pretty dumb. He has 40 k's in 92 innings. Have fun holding up those numbers like that. 40 k's in 92 innings and he's only given up 2 bombs. Righhhhhtttt.

[expletive] you Jim Hendry. What an absolutely legendary offseason. Everybody in the world new they were awful at the time and oh look.... they really are awful. He deserves to be fired for this. He completely ruined the team in a matter of months. Horrible.

since when does something being dirty stop a white sox fan from wearing it?

Oh good...cuz that was what I was worried about....you not liking Len. then why did you seem so angry about what i said? i was joking around and i made a mistake. relax.

jesus guys, i like len. relax